New Car w/ Minor Swirls

[gsgentry]

Hello all... We recently purchased a 2020 Mercedes GLE 350. It currently has 500 miles on it and I wanted to put a ceramic coating on it. The other day while we were out, I noticed one of the fenders had some minot swirl marks on it. The rest of the car seems good, but this one fender isn't. My guess is the dealer did this when they polished it for delivery, but who knows.

Anyways, I have a Porter Cable buffer and was wondering what the quickest and easiest way to handle this would be. I was thinking of Chemical Guys VSS or 3D One.

So here is what I was planning on doing...

1) Wash Car and Dry
2) Polish fender with swirls
3) Use a stripping product like Eraser to clean off oils, waxes, etc
4) Apply Ceramic Coating


Here are the questions that I have...

1) What product should take care of the swirls?
2) Should I only do the fender that has swirls or the entire car?
3) What is a good stripping product for after?

It has been a while since I have done all of this and the game has significantly changed since my earlier days, Seems technology is so much more advanced so I am a little confused.

Any help is appreciated!!!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Sorry for the late reply, looks like you posted this on Sunday morning, I try to push away from the keyboard at some point each week.

Hello all... We recently purchased a 2020 Mercedes GLE 350. It currently has 500 miles on it and I wanted to put a ceramic coating on it. The other day while we were out, I noticed one of the fenders had some minor swirl marks on it. The rest of the car seems good, but this one fender isn't. My guess is the dealer did this when they polished it for delivery, but who knows.

While there's a handful of dealerships in America that know the difference between a swirl and a squirrel, they are far and few between. Based upon all the horror stories I've read and actually been a part of in online discussions helping strangers fix hack work done at dealerships, my strong recommendation is to NEVER let any dealership touch your car outside of regular maintenance.


Before going any further, read my article below and find out if your MB has a ceramiclear paint finish or not.

Ceramiclear Paint Code Location on Mercedes-Benz

If it does, you're lucky as this is a GREAT paint system. But you need to know you have it so you are aware. Then always use the least aggressive process to get the job done to preserve the ceramiclear portion of the paint.

Anyways, I have a Porter Cable buffer and was wondering what the quickest and easiest way to handle this would be. I was thinking of Chemical Guys VSS or 3D One.

I would opt for any abrasive technology from 3D before I used any abrasive technology from CG

See this article,

Abrasive Technology - THE most important factor when it comes to polishing paint

So here is what I was planning on doing...

1) Wash Car and Dry
2) Polish fender with swirls
3) Use a stripping product like Eraser to clean off oils, waxes, etc
4) Apply Ceramic Coating



Here are the questions that I have...

1) What product should take care of the swirls?
2) Should I only do the fender that has swirls or the entire car?

Me?

If I just bought this car I would do a light machine polish over each panel (and the glass), to insure 100% anything ON the paint is now OFF the paint. Be it a sealant, a wax, any substance left by a car wash or spray detailer or even just normal road grime, surface impurities, light oxidation or chemical fallout, etc.

Before installing a coating you want to make sure you're down to bare naked paint.

See this article,

Road Film - If you drive your car in the rain your car has road film

3) What is a good stripping product for after?

Check to see if the brand of coating you're going to use also offers a panel wipe. If they do, get it. If not, any respected brand name of panel wipe will work. Clearcoats are impermeable, so there's really no place for poishing oils to penetrate into, especially on a new car. Most residual oils on the paint after a good wiping using a clean microfiber towel should mean very little oils to have to remove thus any quality brand name panel wipe will chemically strip the surface.

I talk about the topic of permeable and impermeable in my review below. I also taught this topic at the 2020 Mobile Tech Expo.

Review: GYEON Q2 ONE Enthusiast Ceramic Coating by Mike Phillips

It has been a while since I have done all of this and the game has significantly changed since my earlier days, Seems technology is so much more advanced so I am a little confused.

Any help is appreciated!!!

If you haven't read this article or watched the video, in my opinion, it's the most important article I've ever written.

How, why & when to inspect your microfiber towels when detailing cars


But keep in mind, I'm not a YouTube Influencer, so take what I say with a grain of cyber salt.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

One more thing,

Because this is your first post to our forum,


Welcome to AutogeekOnline! :welcome:


And I guess one more thing, because you're using a Porter Cable polisher, check to see what size backing plate you have and what type and size pads you have.

 

[Cayman]

One more thing,

Because this is your first post to our forum,


Welcome to AutogeekOnline! :welcome:


And I guess one more thing, because you're using a Porter Cable polisher, check to see what size backing plate you have and what type and size pads you have.

Thank you!

Ok so the wife’s Mercedes doesn’t have a C on the code, but it also doesn’t start with a 0. So not sure but the code is 890.

Is there a product that you recommend that would be good to polish the entire car as you stated, but that would also get the slight swirls off the fender? And what pad would be good to go with it?

I think it’s 5 1/4 or 5 1/2 but I’ll double check tonight so I can get my order placed. Just trying to figure out what all I need.

Thank you!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Thank you!

Ok so the wife’s Mercedes doesn’t have a C on the code, but it also doesn’t start with a 0. So not sure but the code is 890.

I believe that's their paint code for straight black paint. Non-metallic.

Is there a product that you recommend that would be good to polish the entire car as you stated, but that would also get the slight swirls off the fender?

How are you going to "seal" the paint out of these 3 categories.

1. Car wax
2. Synthetic paint sealant
3. Ceramic paint coating

And what pad would be good to go with it?

What type of polisher do you own?

 

[Cayman]

I believe that's their paint code for straight black paint. Non-metallic.





How are you going to "seal" the paint out of these 3 categories.

1. Car wax
2. Synthetic paint sealant
3. Ceramic paint coating

What type of polisher do you own?

I am going to cermamic coat it. And I have a Porter Cable Dual Action.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I am going to cermamic coat it. And I have a Porter Cable Dual Action.

Years ago while I was still teaching classes at Meguiar's and running the MOL forum, I coined this term for the car detailing industry

Synergistic Chemical Comparability

I see other guys borrow it on YouTube, but they got it from me, they probably just don't know they got it from me.


Here's my point. Figure out what you want to use for a ceramic paint coating and then look to see of that brand of coating ALSO has a line of compounds and polishes. If so, I would choose their polish AND their panel wipe.

Make sense?

This way there's a synergistic chemical compatibility and at least in my mind you increase your chances for success in all aspects. This is assuming the brand you choose not only makes a great/real coating but also has compounds and polishes that use GREAT abrasive technology. The abrasive technology IS the most important factor when polishing scratch-sensitive clearcoats.

As for pads I coined this term back in 2010....

Thin is in...


And I would first make sure you have a 5" backing plate as a 6" backing plate is TOO BIG for that tool. A 6" backing plate also FORCES you to invest your money into pads that tend to be large and thick. Large thick pads absorb the power coming out of that tool and dissipate it. This shows up to you as pad stalling or zero pad rotation.

Here's another quote that can be attributed to yours truly.

If the pad is not rotating - you're not doing anything -Mike Phillips



And in this article about 4 years ago, I shared all the thin pad options available to you today. All good options.


5.5" SUPER THIN FOAM PAD OPTIONS for your Dual Action Polisher



Super thin 5.5" foam buffing pads

Hope that helps...